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[platypotamus]

Snake Eater is a nickname for a special forces operatives.

Them and prostitutes, ya know, whatever.

 

[Stinkles]

Halo: Combat Evolved

Bungie: Marketing.


Hey, I'm not saying our poopoo smelleth not. Anyway, everyone calls it "Halo" and they had enough confidence in us 2nd time around to let the name stand on its own.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Divine Divinity <- really bad

 

[Lord Error]

I support this topic, but there really is something about quirkiness of game names that makes them stand out.

Still, I wouldn't mind the elimination of sub-name catchphrases, and more 'proper' sounding names in general, that are not memorable only because they are weird.

 

[squicken]

Bungie: Marketing.
Hey, I'm not saying our poopoo smelleth not. Anyway, everyone calls it "Halo" and they had enough confidence in us 2nd time around to let the name stand on its own.

I know the story, I was just kidding. And . . .

Is it true that Frankie is to blame for all of this?

That part is true. He also deleted all the assets for Hang 'Em High so that it could never, ever return. Yes, anything you don't like, that was Frankie's fault. And he nearly introduced a wacky smack-talkin' extreme hamster sidekick named "Gusto" in Halo 2. We're also pretty sure Frankie had something to do with the famous Myth hard-drive erasing bug as well as adding the famous "Combat Evolved" tagline to Halo.

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=maptacular&p=2747963

 

[Illuminati]

Mortal Kombat names after Mortal Kombat 3 piss me off. They went on weird tangents with Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Ultimate Mortal Kombat, then back to Mortal Kombat 4, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat Armaggedeon etc. etc. Just stick with the damn numeric numbers.

 

[the year 20XX]

Just stick with the damn numeric numbers.

Divine Divinity 2: Numeric Numbers

 

[Stinkles]

I know the story, I was just kidding. And . . .



http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=maptacular&p=2747963

Gusto T. Hamsta could have been the next Crash T. Bandicoot.

 

[Shig]

Oh man, how did we forget the pentultimate clusterf*** name?

Guilty Gear XX # Slash Reload: Midnight Carnival

Fighting games in general just get nutty:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo' X
Street Fighter EX + Alpha III
Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO: Millionaire Fighting 2000 lol what?)
Melty Blood: Act: Cadenza

 

[Joeroll]

Let's list some GOOD names, I'll start.

A Boy and His Blob!

 

[X26]

not really, although as a whole western games have cheesy names and japanese games have long winded pretentious titles

 

[ronito]

I think game titles are fine: No really I do.

 

[Speevy]

All games should add "of War", "of Death", "of Hell" to the titles.

 

[Stinkles]

All games should add "of War", "of Death", "of Hell" to the titles.

Puyo Puyo Death
War of Katamari
HellActRaiser


yep. Speevy wins.

 

[thetrin]

Having an english degree, I feel like I'm killing my professors by saying I like Japanese game titles, but there's a certain ridiculousness about them I really enjoy.

Hell, the name for the XNA gafgame concept I submitted is called "Last Alarm." It's got quirker retarded japanese written all over it.

 

[PuppetSlave]

Oh man, how did we forget the pentultimate clusterf*** name?

Guilty Gear XX # Slash Reload: Midnight Carnival

Fighting games in general just get nutty:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo' X
Street Fighter EX + Alpha III
Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO: Millionaire Fighting 2000 lol what?)
Melty Blood: Act: Cadenza

So true. Now that are bad names. Not only bad but also confusing. I do not understand the order the different games came out after the original streetfighter 2. I think that street fighter 2 alpha was the first one out. Now? who knows which street fighter is which. So stupid.

Compared too that it does not matter if your game is called rygar, halo, beyond good and evil or whatever.

 

[fresquito]

All games should add "of War", "of Death", "of Hell" to the titles.

Yeah, "of fire" already belongs to metal bands :lol

(See Rhapsody changing name )

 

[Forceatowulf]

I actually like them and think a lot of what some may think as cheesy or stupid to sound really unique. Like Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Solid. They sound weird but they're unique. I like that.

 

[IcedTea]

 

[linsivvi]

The day we have SF or fantasy game with titles in the caliber of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" is the day we can rejoice video game being seriously considered as an art form.

 

[Jiggy]

Yes. It's not "The Legend of Zelda," it's "Zelda's Legend." Two words instead of four, same concept, economy of words, read 1984.





But no, seriously, yes. You look at nearly any best-selling game/franchise and it'll have a simple title, an easy-to-understand title, or both: Super Mario, Pokemon, Madden, Grand Theft Auto, Smash Bros., Legend of Zelda, Street Fighter 2 (back in the day), Tetris, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Mario Kart, Halo, Nintendogs, Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye 007, WWE Smackdown, Animal Forest (since it's Japan where it's selling).

By comparison, nobody would buy "Knights of the Old Republic" if it didn't have Star Wars in front of it, something like Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean might have had problems precisely because nobody knew what to make of it, and I can't even figure out how to account for the likes of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter doing reasonably. This stuff works in movies and books (no other way to explain Harry Potter and the ____ ____ ____), where some level of viewer/reader input is expected, but when people are buying games they don't want to have to try to decipher what the title means.

 

[IcedTea]

I can't even figure out how to account for the likes of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter doing reasonably.

Because people don't judge games solely on their titles?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Because people don't judge games solely on their titles?

They do so on their abbreviations! GRAW is fun as hell to say. Same goes for MGS and Zelda TooT. GTA, MK, KOTOR, TDU. Abbreviations rule.

 

[rubso]

k check this out

 

[RevenantKioku]

The day we have SF or fantasy game with titles in the caliber of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" is the day we can rejoice video game being seriously considered as an art form.

:lol
Video games have enough pretentious artsy shit already, my friend.

 

[dark10x]

Sooo...anyone have examples of GOOD titles (or do none exist)?

 

[fresquito]

Sooo...anyone have examples of GOOD titles (or do none exist)?

Like I said, Too Human is a good name in my book.

:lol
Video games have enough pretentious artsy shit already, my friend.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a good name for the film. That very phrase appears on the film and makes perfect sense. As a standalone name, yeah, it sounds quite pretentious. Don't know about the other.

 

[Twilight Dawn]

Personally I like the cheesy names, especially for RPGs. They're kind of endearing.

Stuff like "Legend of Heroes" is too generic though.

 

[djtiesto]

Sooo...anyone have examples of GOOD titles (or do none exist)?

Sin & Punishment is probably the coolest name for a game IMO.

 

[Attack You]

Sooo...anyone have examples of GOOD titles (or do none exist)?

(looks over his 500-game library...) ****.

Um, Illbleed? The Typing of the Dead?

 

[Ceebs]

Sooo...anyone have examples of GOOD titles (or do none exist)?

What about Okami? I find nothing wrong with that title.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a good name for the film. That very phrase appears on the film and makes perfect sense. As a standalone name, yeah, it sounds quite pretentious. Don't know about the other.

And I think that might be applicable to many games.

 

[Alts]

I'll re-use the band analogy. With a name like "The Foo Fighters" really, what does that even mean? It doesnt matter, it forges its own identity and becomes itself an icon of success and quality.

I haven't read the whole thread, so someone may have addressed this, but Foo Fighters comes from a phenomenon during WWII where pilots would see fire (feu = french fire) flying alongside airplanes. Hence the term, foo fighters.

 

[fresquito]

And I think that might be applicable to many games.

Hmm, not exactly. When you read the title your reaction is "WTF?". Then you see the movie and that line appears and it all makes perfect sense. It's revealing in some way.

 

[Attack You]

Like I said, Too Human is a good name in my book.

I guess Silicon Knights does OK with the naming and all. Eternal Darkness fit the game pretty well.

Out of This World was somewhat clever.

 

[dark10x]

What about Okami? I find nothing wrong with that title.

I think that one is actually very good as it touches on two very important themes in the game with just one word.

 

[Alts]

I think that one is actually very good as it touches on two very important themes in the game with just one word.

Okami works in Japanese. If you don't understand the play on words, it's just a Japanese sounding name.

 

[Ceebs]

Okami works in Japanese. If you don't understand the play on words, it's just a Japanese sounding name.

It does evoke a sort of natural earthy feeling though, even if you don't know the word's meaning.

 

[EphemeralDream]

I think DMC was originally supposed to be called "Devil May Care" but some band copyrighted the name or something.

Good names:
Half-Life
Day of Defeat
Heavenly Sword
Assassin's Creed
Fahrenheit
Killer7
Need for Speed
Guilty Gear - doesn't make sense but sounds nice
Dark Cloud
The 7th Guest
Shadow of the Colossus - sounds lame but works in the context of the game
F.E.A.R. - although full name is stupid
Call of Duty
Vagrant Story
Persona
Shadow Hearts
Lost Odyssey

Bad Names:
WarCraft/StarCraft
Battletoads
Star Fox
Killzone
Frontline: Fuel of War - i think that's what it's called
Virtua ____
Kameo: Elements of Power
etc. etc. ETC.

 

[the year 20XX]

It does evoke a sort of natural earthy feeling though, even if you don't know the word's meaning.

That's a pretty personal judgment, unless you can identify some kind of phonestheme in the word.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Hmm, not exactly. When you read the title your reaction is "WTF?". Then you see the movie and that line appears and it all makes perfect sense. It's revealing in some way.

Err...my point being that most names of things have greater meaning in their actual context. Thanks for agreeing, though!

 

[fresquito]

Err...my point being that most names of things have greater meaning in their actual context. Thanks for agreeing, though!

But it's not the same. You see, when you play MGS you don't say "oh, this a Metal Gear, I'm called Solid Snake, it makes sense now!". No, after seeing the big mecha, the name is still stupid.

 

[Brobzoid]

I think DMC was originally supposed to be called "Devil May Care" but some band copyrighted the name or something.

this is true. there was a film by that name.

And while game titles never bother me much, book titles do. oh my there are plenty of shitty book tiltes. nearly as many as there are shitty indie-rock band names. 'sliced tuna in sauce': you will not be known! you will forever damn yourself to obscurity due to shitty naming!!

>:O

 

[RevenantKioku]

But it's not the same. You see, when you play MGS you don't say "oh, this a Metal Gear, I'm called Solid Snake, it makes sense now!". No, after seeing the big mecha, the name is still stupid.

Well that's your call to make.
Eternal Sunshine yada yada is still at title reeks of artistic slimeballs that makes me want to take the whole movie industry out in the back and put it out of it's bloody misery, though.
And yeah band names and their respective song titles are much more offensive these days than video game nams.

 

[AniHawk]

It's an Ocarina.

...of TIME.

 

[fresquito]

It's an Ocarina.

...of TIME.

8 years later it'd be an Ocarina.

... of WAR.

 

[Luna104]

Since the list of words in this world is finite, so too are the amount of titles and combinations to use them. In an industry that's hallmarks are games titled "Super Mario World", hoping for amazingly crafted literary bullets as titles is just nonsense.

I'll re-use the band analogy. With a name like "The Foo Fighters" really, what does that even mean? It doesnt matter, it forges its own identity and becomes itself an icon of success and quality. So too for titles such as Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gears are the icons in the game, and Solid Snake is the hero. Its all condensed there, in the title. What would you rather it be "There is Sneaking!".

But I just can't comprehend how you can be having this discussion when you yourself have defended the name Wii in the past. Wii Sports! WEE SPORTS. It doesnt even work as the term We! "We Sports?" would be a broken english question asking perhaps "do we play sports?". So hush! HUSH NOW!

A foo fighter is a UFO. The term was coined by WWII pilots.

Some good names, all off the top of my head and of course IMO:

Sin & Punishment
Grim Fandango
System Shock
Psychonauts
The Elder Scrolls
Skies of Arcadia
Far Cry
Dead Rising

 

[Jive Turkey]

A foo fighter is a UFO. The term was coined by WWII pilots.

Glad someone responded to that.

Seriously...Some of you saying most game names are just random words strung together are showing your showing your ignorance of the outside world.

 

[duk]

cant get better than tingle

 

[linsivvi]

Like I said, Too Human is a good name in my book.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a good name for the film. That very phrase appears on the film and makes perfect sense. As a standalone name, yeah, it sounds quite pretentious. Don't know about the other.

"Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" is the English title of a SF novel by the famous Japanese writer, Haruki Murakami.

Exactly what I thought too. Both titles are for SF works and make perfect sense when you actually watch the movie or read the book. Game titles can certainly be a little bit more creative than what we have here.